Top 10 Turkish Super Lig signings for 2017-2018

by Guilherme Neto

The Turkish Super Lig has been attracting world class talent in the last seasons and the haul for last summer’s transfer window was huge. Not only the teams from Istanbul signed premier talent, all the other clubs that play away from the capital loaded their squads with talent. In this article we’ll write about the ten best signings for Super Lig teams this offseason.

10) Mathieu Valbuena: From Olympique Lyon to Fenerbahçe. Valbuena left Ligue 1 to become Fenerbahçe’s top signing this summer. The Turkish club paid 3.5 million euros for the midfielder’s services and he obviously received the rock star treatment when he arrived to Istanbul.

9) Fernando: From Manchester City to Galatasaray. Fernando wasn’t going to get much playing time with “Sky Blues”, so he decided to leave Manchester and go to play in Turkey’s most popular club. The team paid 4.5 million euros for the Brazilian midfielder.

Fernando in Galatasaray in 2017

8) Younes Belhanda: From Niza to Galatasaray. After an amazing season with Nice in Ligue 1, Belhanda was bought by Galatasaray for eight million euros from Dynamo Kiev. This was the most expensive transaction in Turkish football this summer and the club expects him to help them win the Turkish Derby, if you want to bet on the odds of Galatasaray, you can do it here.

7) Mauricio Isla: From Cagliari to Fenerbahçe. A fixture in Chile’s defense was signed by Fenerbahçe to a three year contract after leaving Serie A team Cagliari. Isla is just one of many important players signed by the Istanbul giants for this season.

6) Gael Clichy: From Manchester City to Istanbul Basaksehir. After a successful run in the Premier League, Clichy opted to continue his career Istanbul Basaksehir, one of last season’s surprise clubs in the Super Lig. Istanbul Basaksehir will be playing Champions League football this season.

5) Asamoah Gyan: From Shanghai SIPG to Kayserispor. This was an amazing signing, Gyan is still in his prime and is one of Ghana’s all-time best players, with over fifty goals with the national team. He arrived as a free transfer.

4) Juraj Kucka: From AC Milan to Trabzonspor. After they missed out on Medel, Trabzonspor officials went for the Slovaquian midfielder, for who they paid five million euros. He played for AC Milan last season.

3) Johan Djourou: From Hamburg to Antalyaspor. The Swiss center back played in the Bundesliga last season and he arrived to the Super Lig on a free transfer. He will play alongside other world class footballers like Jeremy Menez and Samuel Eto’o.

2) Pepe: From Real Madrid to Besiktas. After winning it all with Real Madrid in over ten years, the Portuguese center back left Spain and joined Besikas in a free transfer. Pepe signed for two seasons and he expects to help his new team repeat as the Super Lig champions.

1) Álvaro Negredo: From Middleborough to Besiktas. The Spaniard striker was once one the best in Europe and wants to prove in the Super Lig that he still has some gas in the tank. He was bought for 2.1 million euros after playing for Middleborough last season.